Kings at Blues
THE STORY: The Los Angeles Kings upended the St. Louis Blues in the opener of their Western Conference semifinal series by beating their opponents at their own game. The Kings will look to repeat the feat Monday night as they visit St. Louis for Game 2 of the best-of-seven set. The Blues surged into the conference elite on the strength of solid defense and sensational goaltending - qualities Los Angeles exhibited in a 3-1 win in the series opener.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, CNBC, TSN
ABOUT THE KINGS: Los Angeles is no defensive slouch itself, finishing second to the Blues in goals against in the entire conference. But while many expected the Kings' offense to struggle against St. Louis, it found just enough punch - paced by a shorthanded goal from defenseman Matt Greene - to draw first blood. Kings captain Dustin Brown credited his club with limiting St. Louis' offensive opportunities and atoning for early defensive miscues. "For whatever reason, we gave those chances up," he said. "But I think we did a pretty good job of correcting those mistakes and limiting their grade-A scoring chances the rest of the game.''
ABOUT THE BLUES: St. Louis may be without one of its key defensemen for Game 2. Alex Pietrangelo left Saturday's game with a possible concussion after he was rammed into the boards by Kings rookie Dwight King. He returned briefly before departing again, and is considered questionable for Monday. Blues forward Andy McDonald, who has missed significant time with a concussion himself, wasn't a fan of the hit. "He was in a dangerous area there, obviously," McDonald said. "You're four feet from the boards and you get pushed from behind, that's a scary hit. Hopefully he's OK. We'll have to wait and see."
OVERTIME:
1. St. Louis went 0 for 3 on the power play in Game 1 and is now scoreless in 17 man-advantage opportunities against the Kings so far this season.
2. Pietrangelo finished third on the Blues in scoring during the regular season with 12 goals and 39 assists.
3. Greene's goal was the first shorthanded playoff tally by a Kings defenseman since Rob Blake scored one against Calgary in 1993, the year the Kings reached the finals.